From her bedroom window, Camilla looks down on the masses shuffling along Fifth Avenue. She doesn’t dare going out on the balcony – she’s seen them climb trees like chimps going after people in the park.

The house phone rings.

‘Ms Vandenberg, Mr. Preston is here for you.’

Camilla laughs at Colin’s formality. He’s the reason the residents haven’t been overrun, but he acts as if it were part of the job.

‘Did he bring the guns?’

‘He did indeed.’

‘Colin, won’t you come upstairs?’

‘My place is by the door, Ms. Vandenberg. We don’t want undesirables coming in, do we?’

***

Written for Microcosms 4, which provided the following prompts: character – princess; location: New York City; genre: horror.

When I grow up, I want to be a sunflower. I want to stand in one place and turn my face with the sun. I want to be tall and bright and make people smile.

Dad says sunflowers will have a better chance than us. But by the time I’ve grown up, even they may need too much water. And they don’t actually turn with the sun. Cacti grows tall, he says. I’ll get to see them soon as we’ll move again and this time, it’ll be the desert.

In a way, yes. During the first year, you don’t know what you’re doing. You’re learning all the time. You find out which of your expectations are on the money (not all that many) and you discover stuff you’d never have imagined. You find out if you can do this.

And maybe the highs seem higher, the lows lower in this first year-long roller coaster ride?

From now on, you’ve been there before. You have a history. You’re not the rookie anymore.